The Golden Eaglets will face Burkina Faso for a place in the semi-final of the 2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Nigeria defeated South Africa 2-3 in the last Group B game in the competition to set up Thursday’s quarter-final clash with their fellow West Africans.
Drama till the last minute 😍
Group B has delivered as promised 👏 #TotalEnergiesAFCONU17 pic.twitter.com/MapmM2vefm
— #TotalEnergiesAFCONU17 2023 🏆 (@CAF_Online) May 6, 2023
Following the win over the South Africans, Coach Nduka Ugbade praised his boys for coming back stronger after struggling to score in the loss to Morocco in their second game.
“We worked a bit in training and we did some corrections. We realized that it was purely psychological and we talked to the players and we saw an improvement today,” Ugbade said in a post-match interview. “We might have conceded two but I am glad we scored three.”
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Nigeria are soaring high 🦅
The Golden Eaglets secure their spot in the 2023 #TotalEnergiesAFCONU17 quarter-finals 👏@NGSuperEagles pic.twitter.com/U7nt06Wbde
— #TotalEnergiesAFCONU17 2023 🏆 (@CAF_Online) May 6, 2023
On the other hand, the Burkinabes earned their spot in the last eight after beating Cameroon 2-1 in a Group C clash Sunday night.
🇧🇫 Burkina Faso finish in second 🐎
Group C takes its final shape 🔢#TotalEnergiesAFCONU17 pic.twitter.com/Gvm0SVXTuu
— #TotalEnergiesAFCONU17 2023 🏆 (@CAF_Online) May 7, 2023
The game at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers, Algeria will be a rematch of the WAFU-B Championship final held last year. Nigeria beat their counterparts 2-1 to win the title.
But this time, the Burkina Faso coach Brahima Traore said his team are ready to clip the Golden Eaglets’ wings.
“We had two objectives in this tournament; first to get to the semi-finals and then to fight for the title,” Traore told CAFonline. “We will prepare well for Nigeria to enable us get to the semis and earn the World Cup ticket.”
In the other quarter-final games, Senegal take on South Africa, Morocco clash with Algeria and Mali fight Congo.
The last four in the competition will represent Africa at the U-17 FIFA World Cup billed for later in the year.